Settle for a Slowdown
by TheElejahDiaries
Summary: A songfic set to "Settle for a Slowdown" by Dierks Bentley. Elena's had enough of Damon's never-ending trail of hurt and pain, leaving Damon out in the pouring rain, waiting for the red glow of taillights.


_Settle For a Slowdown ~ Dierks Bentley_

I must look just like a fool here in the middle of the road.

_ Damon looked on from the doorway helplessly as Elena hurried from his house, fuming. _

_ "Damon, I can't do this anymore! All you do is hurt people! Wherever you go, you leave a trail of pain behind you! I thought we had a chance, I thought that you could change, but I was wrong."_

_ "Elena, I made a mistake. I'm sorry."_

_ "No, Damon! I'm tired of giving you second chances. You don't deserve them anymore. Just let me go."_

_ She got into her car, slamming the door and revving the engine. As she pulled out of his driveway, Damon tried to hold back and let her go, but he hurried after her, watching as she drove down the road in the pouring rain._

Standing there in your rear-view and getting soaked to the bone.

_"Elena," he whispered as her car quickly put distance between them. He'd go back and put all the effort in the world into stopping himself from giving in to his hunger, his natural urges. No matter what he did, he'd always be compared to Saint Stefan. Elena had given him a chance, but every little thing he did wrong, she was there right away, scolding, reprimanding. Despite everything, he'd never thought she'd actually go._

_ He swallowed the tears that threatened to break the surface. Damon Salvatore didn't cry. _

This land is flat as it is mean. A man can see for a hundred miles.

_Through the rain and the distance, Damon could still see the silhouette of Elena in her car, speeding away from him down the road. For the first time, he realized she wasn't going to turn around. He thought of using his speed to catch up with her, but that would only make matters worse. She'd made it obvious that she wanted nothing more to do with him. He hadn't meant to kill the girl, but he'd been so hungry and upset. When he was upset, he wasn't exactly in control with what he was doing. And it all went back to Stefan. Earlier that day, Stefan had been lecturing him on his relationship with Elena. Damon didn't see it as any of Stefan's business, but that hadn't stopped him from sticking his nose in._

So I'm still praying I might see the glow of a brake light.

_Please, thought Damon, please just stop. Give me another chance. You don't know what you mean to me. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Just come back and let me show you how much I care about you. I've never cared about another person so much. I love you, Elena._

But your wheels just turn down the road ahead.

_Despite his soul-divulging thoughts, Elena didn't stop. She didn't turn around. She didn't give him another chance. Damon hoped this wasn't the end as he stood in the road, getting soaked to the bone, water droplets falling from the tips of his hair and into his eyes. It was definitely rain – after all, Damon Salvatore didn't cry._

If it hurts at all, you ain't showed it yet

_Damon knew Elena was hurting, but the fact that she continued on her way down the long, straight road back into Mystic Falls told him more than words ever could. It was true, what she'd said. Wherever he went, pain and death followed. He couldn't help himself. It was who he was. He hadn't asked to become a vampire. And still, it all went back to Stefan._

I keep lookin' for the slightest sign that you might miss what you left behind.

_Did she miss him? Would she ever? He missed her already and was willing to do most anything to win her back, but second chance after second chance had worn on her. _

I know there's nothing stopping you now but I'd settle for a slowdown.

_He couldn't blame her for being angry, hurt, or frustrated, but he had to believe, in his heart of hearts, that she'd come back, because if she didn't . . . Damon couldn't even think of that possibility. After everything that had happened in the past year, they'd always gotten through it. He'd given her blood, almost killed her best friends, and wreaked havoc on her town, but she'd always forgiven him. This couldn't be the final straw. She meant to much._

_ "Just slow down," he said to himself, knowing she couldn't hear._

_ He watched through the downpour for two red lights that never came._


End file.
